Sunday Cardinal Couple

WBB Falls to Florida State

In a testament to the high expectations on UofL Women's Basketball, the loss yesterday to 4th seed Florida State, a top 25 team, can only be considered a disappointment.  FSU advanced to the championship of the ACC tournament after a down-to-the-wire battle against the Cards, with a final score of 62-60.  There they will meet NC State who advanced over Boston College.

The Cards started out with shooting woes, shooting only 23.5% from the field in the 1st quarter, resulting in an 18-10 FSU lead.  The Cards would turn it around in the 2nd quarter, however and come roaring back with 58.3% shooting, including a perfect 4-4 from beyond the arc.  The 2nd half would somewhat repeat the pattern, with a not-awful-but-also-not-great 35.7% shooting in the 3rd quarter, a quarter that FSU won 18-13.  The Cards would improve to 50% in the 4th quarter to close down that five point lead to the two point winning margin.

Despite Case's suggestion during the Cardinal Couple Radio Hour yesterday that the culprit would be found to be turnovers, the Cards actually won in that stat 12-15.  To be fair to Case's assessment, the comment came as we had watched the end of the game in the studio and FSU did win the turnover stat in the 2nd half.  Overall, though most of the stats were very similar between the two teams.  The biggest discrepancy is probably found in the rebounding stats, and specifically in offensive rebounds which the Seminoles won 14-11 with the result showing up on the scoreboard in 2nd chance points with a 15-7 advantage to the women from Tallahassee.

For individual contributors, Dana Evans and Jazmine Jones had 16 and 15 respectively, with Kylee Shook and Yacine Diop reach double-digits with 10 apiece.  Bionca Dunham rounds out the significant scorers with 6.  'Kasa Robinson had a bucket, and Liz Dixon went 1 for 2 from the charity stripe to round out the scorers for the Cards.

Overall, I would call this a lackluster game overall, with moments of brilliance within in.

The Cards, of course, will get an at-large bid to the NCAA tournament, likely as a 2-seed in the Ft. Wayne Regional.  As a top-16 team, which is still all but completely assured, the Cards will host 1st and 2nd round games at the KFC Yum! Center.  There had been hope that UofL could creep back up into a one seed, but this loss almost certainly forecloses on that possibility.

I believe we will be getting a Paulie special report from Greensboro with his thoughts and recap of the game as well as the Boston College vs NC State game.

Softball

The Softball Cards are playing the home opener weekend at Ulmer and picked up a good win over Northwestern yesterday, 3-1.  Coming off of a heartbreaking 1-2 loss in 8 innings against Illinois on Friday, the Cards were eager for a win.

Jordyn Wolfe and Carmyn Greenwood were the scoring heroes of this one.  The scoring came late in the game for the Cards, not getting anything on the scoreboard until the bottom of the 5th.  Wolfe reached with a double, and advanced to 3rd on a Jenna Servi groundout.  Wolfe would be joined on the basepaths when Madison Ciaccio would draw a walk.  Carmyn Greenwood would rip a double to bring Wolfe and Ciaccio home for the 2-1 lead.

The other run for the Cards came in the next inning.  Caitlin Ferguson got hit by a pitch, and would use her basepath speed to make it home on a Wolfe double.

Chardonnay Harris gets the win in the circle for this one, and did so in style, limiting Northwestern to only a pair of hits.

The Red and Black Challenge will wrap up today with 4 games at Ulmer.  Oakland and Northwestern will start off the day at 10am, UofL will get another shot at Illinois at around 12:15 and then will take a break while Evansville gets to have a run at the Illini.  The Cards will wrap up the Challenge with a scheduled 4:45 start against the Purple Aces of Evansville.

The weather today should be glorious for a day out at Ulmer, come out and enjoy the sun and some great softball.

Cardinal Couple Radio Hour

Case and I did pop into the library to put out another edition of the Cardinal Couple Radio Hour.  We might call this one, the distracted edition.

We were on the stream live during the last quarter or so of the WBB game, and for much of the Softball game yesterday, both events that we were trying to stay on top of a little bit while we talked.  We had WBB streaming in the studio, as well.

My apologies for a long blank section at the beginning, I just plain forgot to switch to the live audio on my streaming software.  Audio starts at about 3:30.  I'll look into trimming the no-audio video at the beginning out, but that will be a bit of a learning process to do that, so bear with me while I figure it out.

We had a good discussion, accompanied by some great photos from Jared from 3 different sports this week.  We covered WBB, Lacrosse, and Softball.  Check it out below.

-- 

JMcA

Lacrosse Wins, WBB Gets Awards - Wednesday Cardinal Couple

Lacrosse Wins Over Longwood

Longwood University, the Lancers, came to the Louisville Lacrosse Stadium and took the loss 17-7.  A convincing win for the Cards, but a win that left Coach Scott Teeter sounding a cautionary tone.

The Cards jumped on the board in this one quickly and with early pace, scoring five times within the first eight minutes of play in a 7-0 opening game run.  UofL also used lots of scorers, with Hannah Morris being the first player to get her 2nd goal of the game with 2:44 left in the first half making the score 9-3.  11 players would score for the Cards in this one, led by Morris with 4, and Belle Dora also completing the hat trick.  Caroline Blalock got a pair, and then there were a whole mess of players with singletons.

Early in the game, it appeared that Longwood was just outmatched by the Cardinals, and perhaps that was the case to a degree, given the final score, but they did buckle down and start finding some success.  They were still losing the game, and UofL was still, slowly, stretching the lead, but the Lancers were able to stop the rapid fire patter of scores of the opening minutes, and really was able to control much more of the possession time in the 2nd half.  While they weren't able to generate too many scoring opportunities, they were in their offensive set more, taking up more time, thus slowing down the UofL attack.

Both teams used two goalkeepers in the game, with substitutions for both starting GKs at halftime.  Teeter expressed satisfaction with Rachel Florek's performance in the 1st half, but wanted to take the opportunity to get Jen Schaff some playing time and experience.  Both had two saves, with three getting past Florek and four getting past Schaff.

Teeter expressed some concern about effort and aggressiveness, pointing out that the team lost out on a number of 50/50 balls and draw controls.  Louisville did win in both of those statistical categories, although the draw controls were quite close (13 for UofL, 12 for Longwood).  There's no equivalent FRED report for Lacrosse, but if there were, I suspect there would be some lower case letters, and perhaps some not awarded at all.

The team was immediately preparing for a departure that evening to North Carolina to take on a very good UNC team Thursday evening at 7pm.  After UNC, Lacrosse will have a three game non-conference stretch, with Niagara, Delaware, and Butler on the slate.

Here what Scott Teeter, Hannah Morris, and Belle Dora had to say post-game, and please excuse the terrible post-game interviewer.

Lacrosse Post-game comments, Scott Teeter, Hannah Morris, Belle Dora

Post Season Conference WBB Awards

The ACC a dizzying array of post-season awards, but a few stand out for UofL.

Dana Evans picks up the Player of the Year award, and Kylee Shook won Defensive Player of the Year.  The Coach of the Year award, which some perhaps thought should go to Jeff Walz, was awarded to Joanna Bernabei-McNamee from Boston College.  While BC rounds out the regular season just a little above mid-pack, that finish was a dramatic change in fortunes for team.

Evans, Shook, and Jazmine Jones, all were named to the All-ACC squad by the Blue Ribbon panel, with Shook dropping to the 2nd team All-ACC in the coaches version of the All-ACC teams.  Shook and Jones would also be tabbed for the All-ACC Defensive team in the coaches awards.  The blue ribbon panel doesn't name an Defensive team.

Paulie is in Greensboro and will be bringing reports from the ACC tournament the rest of the week.

And be sure to get your picks in for the ACC tournament bracket challenge or Jared will be sad.  Mine will be forthcoming in the next couple of hours.



Cardinal Couple ACC Pick "em" 

You know the drill, most of  you, but if you don't -- now hear this.

We have an ACC Tournament Pick 'Em here at Cardinal Couple. You predict the 14 total games and if you do the best, you get a $25 gift card to Panera or Cracker Barrel. Second place gets a $15 gift card. 

Enter them by noon, today. In case of tie, earliest entry wins. 

These are Jared Anderson's Picks: 

Round 1:  UNC, Notre Dame, Miami
Round 2:  Virginia Tech, Virginia, Georgia Tech, Miami
Round 3:  Florida State, Louisville, NC State, Duke
Semi-finals: Louisville, NC State
Championship:  Louisville

Think you can do better? Enter your selections in the comments section by 1 p.m.

Good luck

-- 

JMcA

Louisville Women's Basketball, Volleyball Featured Today! -- Sunday Cardinal Couple

Sunday Schedule

Well, at least the events today are spread out nicely, although it would be nice if they were in a bit closer geographical proximity.

Let's run them down in order.

Volleyball

Volleyball kicks off the afternoon at 1 at Cardinal Arena.  The Cards are looking for revenge for an early conference season loss to UNC today.  If you'll remember, in the first matchup, the Cards went into the set break at Chapel Hill up two sets to none with 25-19 and 25-18 wins.  The Tarheels regrouped, though, and came out for the 3rd and 4th sets and flipped the script, winning 25-18 and 25-19, setting up the decisive 5th set.  The Tarheels got that one 15-12 for the match, and the Cardinals came back home smarting from what should have been a solid win that turned into a loss.  I suspect Florida State and Miami were none too thrilled, either, as they were the next guests into Cardinal Arena the next weekend who went down to defeat...the first matches to really show the mettle that this UofL squad really had, (and started to show that FSU really wasn't as great as expected pre-season).

Today, UofL is coming off of a very large victory against NC State in Cardinal Arena Friday night.  That match may very well have been the deciding match of the ACC conference season championship.  The Cardinals need to win the rest of the way, including today, and next weekend vs Boston College and Syracuse, to ensure they hang onto the share of the conference championship and that automatic qualifier bid to the NCAA tournament.  A loss in any of the three matches would mean that we would need Pitt to take another loss as well, and with the rest of their schedule consisting of Georgia Tech (today), and then Virginia and Virginia Tech next week, the likelihood of that happening is rather low.

If you can't make it to campus, this one is available, as normal, on ACC Network Extra

Basketball

The women go into battle at 3pm for the WNIT championship at the KFC Yum! Center.  10th ranked Oregon has advanced through the other side of the WNIT bracket.  Louisville sits in the #5 spot, of course, in early season like this, rankings are particularly impermanent.

The Cards will be looking out for scorers Ruthy Hebard (6'4" F), and Sabrina Ionescu (5'10" G) who had 24 and 16 against Texas A&M.  Ionescu had a triple-double with 11 assists and 10 rebounds.  Other scorers to be wary of are Lexi Bando (5'9" G), and Maiti Cazorla (5'10" G) who both put up 10 against Texas A&M.  Cazorla almost reached double-double territory with 8 assists.  First off the bench vs A&M was Oti Gildon (6'1" F) who scored 12 and pulled down 9 rebounds.

Not coming downtown?  Get the call on CBS Sports Network.

Men's Soccer

Things move back to Floyd Street at 5 p.m. with the Men's Soccer team kicking off their NCAA tournament run against San Francisco.  The Cards bring a 4th seed into the tournament, and a win today will likely bring 13th seed Michigan into Lynn for the next round game.  The Blue have to get past Colgate to do it, that match also starts at 5 p.m..

Still not on Floyd Street?  ESPN3, has this one, still on the ESPN streaming platform like ACC Network Extra, albeit a little more prominently displayed.

Can you complete the Cardinal sports marathon today? Also, be advised that the NCAA Field Hockey championship game is being played at Trager Stadium today as well so parking could be a tough ticket today on the Belknap Campus.


I won't go into a lot of detail here, plenty of sites out there to cover it, but Louisville Football splashed away in absolutely horrible, wet and cold conditions in Papa John's Oven yesterday 56-10 over Syracuse, I stuck in out until the end, dressed like Ralphie's brother Randy in A CHRISTMAS STORY. Lamar Jackson is from another planet or something. Amazing. 381 total yards and four touchdowns. Cards with seven wins now and at UK next week to close the regular season.   -- Paulie -- 

Radio

MYSTERY PICTURE. What classic comedy movie is
this photo from? First correct response gets entered for
a $20 Panera Card! (No, it's not Paulie and Jeff's
 excellent Adventure...) 

We were down a knucklehead yesterday in the basement on a hill.  Jared was off being a big fancy.banker, but Julie JC Sullivan classed up the joint in his place, and even brought Paulie his very own stuffed plush Touchdown Squirrel.  You should be able to find the replay at 

https://soundcloud.com/chradio/cardinal-couple-20171118 when it goes live.

We've gotten some wonderful support from our readers and listeners, and I can't say enough how much that is appreciated.  We know we have amazing readers and listeners and we never take that for granted, and we're thrilled that you like what we do enough to help defray some of the costs of doing it.  November is the one month of the year that we actually ask for that support.

Thank you again, and we'll see you at whatever next game you go to.

-- 

JMcA


A PAULIE NOTE: 

Since I have been asked a few times and I don't mind at all sharing with you, we've budgeted and planned that it will take a little over $3000 to cover expected and fixed costs at CARDINAL COUPLE LLC for 2018. This year, so far, it has been a tad less than that, with a month and change to go in the year and I have gone into my pocket a bit for stuff. I keep a small balance in the checking account to avoid overdrafts and services charges.

So far, this year, with donations and sponsor support, we are slightly over 1/3rd of the way there in reaching that goal. We have received $1250 in donations. Won't you consider helping get us to our goal?

NOVEMBER is donation month. Help us.

Thank you if you have donated!
Thank you if you are considering donation and I hope you follow through with it.
We ARE a non-profit LLC that keeps our costs and expenditures as low as possible.

Paulie

CARDINAL COUPLE SPECIAL REPORT -- ASIA DURR CHOOSES LOUISVILLE

ASIA DURR HEADED TO LOUISVILLE

The #1 prospect in the 2015 class announced her decision of colleges today before family and friends at St. Pius X Catholic High School in Douglasville, GA this afternoon and the choice ? 

LOUISVILLE

What are the Cards getting? 

A dominating left-handed combo guard that delivers the complete package in the backcourt; manufactures and attacks, consistently delivers in the mid-range game; fluid off the dribble, body control draws contact and finishes the play; superb leader in half-court game; anticipator defensively, converts in pressure; the elite prospect in the class of 2015.


The timing is perfect for Jeff Walz and the Cards. Guards Bria Smith and Jude Schimmel are graduating at the end of this season and Durr will join another strong recruiting class that features 6'5" Erin De Grate and top 25 guards Brianna Jones and Taja Cole.


Congratulations to Jeff Walz and his staff for back-to-back stellar recruiting classes. And...there could still be a couple of other announcements on future Cardinals as well.

Keep it here at CARDINAL COUPLE for your #1 source of women's athletics at UofL! 


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dn6_xUAxNtk
paulie
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Wednesday Cardinal Couple -- ....What....

WEDNESDAY CARDINAL COUPLE

- What to expect

- One of those ???? stats

In the Tuesday CARDINAL COUPLE, our esteemed columnist Worldwide Jeff McAdams detailed why he writes for CARDINAL COUPLE and co-hosts the weekly radio show on Crescent Hill Radio with me.

Eloquent words, straight from the heart and a great synopsis and mission statement on why he does what he does here.

Today, we'll explore "what" we'll being doing here at the site and on the radio show and "why" your support means everything to us.

We have an exciting season of UofL women's sports ahead of us in 2014-15 and that season starts in less than a month. We're going to provide the best coverage we can on these fall sports...Field Hockey, Soccer, Volleyball...the news that breaks on these and the other sports will be discussed and analyzed here.

We'll also be covering women's basketball as the team gets ready for ACC competition. We'll look at the roster, who's here, who's departed, who's wowing the participants in the practice centers and trying to gain and provide even more interviews and information we come across.

"What" it is...breaks down to our mission statement and reason for existence. Providing a fan voice for the teams and squads that proudly wear the Cardinal colors.

That's where you come into play.
"What" is also a request from us to you. What do you want more of? What details can we provide? What are we doing good? What is important to you?

It's also a statement...this "what" of "what you can do for CARDINAL COUPLE"? You can be our auxiliary eyes, ears, sensors and information sources. You're a fan, we're fans...let's work together. It also entails financial help. What can you bring to the table to help us cover expenses? You can help us make it happen.

What we have planned is daily reports on what is going on with the athletic squads and their interaction with the competition...as well as how they are stacked to compete.

We promise a great interview on the Saturday show with Field Hockey coach Justine Sowry. We've also got feelers out to get in the offices of Jeff Walz and Karen Ferguson Dayes to get interviews with them, too. We'll include other coaches in the mix as well. We get it...

You like the interviews...we're trying to get them.

What lies ahead is exciting, challenging, competitive and ground-breaking. What you'll get here is the details and the commentary. What you can do is help a non-profit do what you want us to do...and what we want to do.

What can we say? Except...thank you.

paulie


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A 5'9" rebounding machine...L-Whale.

Finally, this stat from the Minnesota Lynx's 83-72 win over the LA Sparks last night...

Minnesota grabbed 33 rebounds. Only one of them was an offensive rebound. 5'9" Lindsay Whelan got that lone offensive rebound...probably on a shot that kicked high off the rim and landed at her feet at the 3-point stripe...

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Wednesday Cardinal Couple -- Another "i" dotted - Cards down Iowa by 30

WEDNESDAY CARDINAL COUPLE

- Shoni's 26 leads five double figure scorers in rout of Iowa

Strictly business.

The Iowa Hawkeyes were trying to stand in the way of Louisville's return to play in the regionals of the NCAA Womens' basketball tournament in the KFC YUM! Center.

Bad idea.

The Cards dot another "I" (the first one Idaho on Sunday) and return to Louisville after a 83-53 defeat of Iowa at Carver-Hawkeye Arena Tuesday night.

Iowa did keep it close for the first six minutes and the Cards faced a 11-11 tie from an inspired Hawkeye squad.

It did not last.

Louisville went on a 12-1 run and led 23-13 after a Shoni Schimmel jumper with 8:41 left in the first half. It only got worse for Iowa after that.

The Cards took a 28-17 lead after a Tia Gibbs putback with 5:42 on the clock and extended that to 33-19 at the four minute TV timeout. A 7-4 closing run had Louisville up 40-23 at halftime.

Shoni had 12 of her game high 26 points at that point and Nita Slaughter had 8 points...with two threes to her stat line. Three Cards (Tia, Asia Taylor and Jude Schimmel) had six points each and the rout was on.

The Cards were shooting 64% in the first half. Iowa 31%.

Louisville went on a 21-8 spree over the first eight minutes of the second half to take a 30 point lead...61-31...with twelve minutes to go in the game. The Cards were shooting, rebounding and playing defense well. And without their starting posts in the game.

With Sara and Asia on the bench watching...saddled with fouls...the Hawkeyes had a height advantage. 

It did not matter. Louisville went up 79-44 with four minutes left. One almost felt sorry for Iowa...hoping they would empty the bench like Louisville did several minutes earlier...realize that it was over and let the clock run.

Much like the loud and rowdy Iowa fan base in the stands...the Hawkeye team wouldn't let it die. Hard fouls and wild threes that didn't hit the mark plagued the final minutes. The Hawkeye coach finally emptied the bench. It was time.

You play to the final buzzer...sure...and it hurts to lose at home...but Iowa was a beaten team when A-Tayy nailed a jumper to complete a 9-2 Louisville blitz in the first three minutes of the final half to go up 49-25.

Sam Logic and Distel-whatever may be local legends in Iowa City. The truth is...they are mediocre basketball players on a run-of-the-mill, middle-of-the-pack Big 10 team. They could not stop the beatdown that Louisville administered.

Strictly business.

Louisville wins 83-53. Another "I" dotted. Another hopeful pretender sent to the sidelines. Survive and advance.

Shoni led all scorers with 26. Nita Slaughter added 17...five threes in the mix against the ponderously slow Iowa perimeter. Tia Gibbs finished with 12 points. Jude and Asia with 10 points each. Starr Breedlove scored in mop-up minutes to extend her games scored-in streak to two. She's quick and has a nice free-throw motion. Watch out for this girl next season.

How many times has Louisville won by 30 and Sara Hammond not scored?

Another successful stop on the Unfinished Business trip. Louisville gets a LSU squad on Sunday that they beat earlier in the season.

C'mon home, ladies. Another appearance in the Sweet Sixteen ahead. In the KFC YUM! Center. Sunday hoops with great weather ahead. Go buy tickets, Card fans.

And Iowa...for what it's worth...went one game further in the NCAA Tournament than their cross-state rivals Iowa State.  

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Louisville's Shoni Schimmel and Sara Hammond were named to the WBCA All-Region I team, the Women's Basketball Coaches Association (WBCA) announced Tuesday. The selection committee will select the 10-member WBCA Division I Coaches' All-America Team from 52 candidates


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Sixteen teams remain. Breaking them down by conference gives us five from the SEC (Tennessee, LSU, South Carolina, Texas A&M and Kentucky). Louisville's future conference...the ACC...has three schools representing (Notre Dame, North Carolina and Maryland). The AAC still has the two that were selected for the Big Dance alive in UConn and Louisville. The Big 12? Baylor and Oklahoma State. DePaul represents the Big East (way to go Doug Bruno!) The WAC has surprising #12 seed BYU still dancing. Penn State is the lone Big 10 survivor. Stanford is the sole PAC school .

By seeding? All four #1 seeds are alive. Only two of the #2 seeds advanced (take that NCAA...WVU and Duke are gone).
All four #3 seeds will play this weekend. Two of the #4 seeds (Maryland and North Carolina) fight on. #5 seed Oklahoma St. heads to the South Bend regional. Two #7 seeds...DePaul and LSU...join the party and #12 BYU completes the team-by-seed breakdown.

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How's the CARDINAL COUPLE Pick 'Em contest going? I'm glad you asked! Here's the standings thru the first two rounds:

Paulie                40-8
Joe H                 39-9
Blue Lou            38-10
Charlyse
Curtis Franklin
Willie Cat Fan    37-11
Gary W              36-12
Kenny S             35-13
Sonja
David Watson     34-14
Vivian
Worldwide Jeff
Jennifer B          31-17
Cardinal Chimp  30-18
Matt M for Gov   25-23
The Other One   24-24


paulie
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Wednesday Cardinal Couple -- Cards ranked #3? Sounds good to me...

WEDNESDAY CARDINAL COUPLE

- DAVID WATSON weighs in on UofL WBB


( OUR COLUMNIST EMERITUS AND ALL-AROUND GOOD GUY DAVID WATSON CHECKS IN TODAY WITH OBSERVATIONS ON UOFL WOMENS' BASKETBALL AND OTHER THINGS ON HIS MIND. IT'S DAVID...PREPARE YOUR REBUTTALS...)

First off, let's get something quite clear --UConn and Notre Dame are the best two teams in the country in college women's basketball. Muffet McGraw and Geno Auriemma are the two best coaches in women's college basketball. I'm starting to see a trend here and it has nothing to do with conference alignments, strength of scheduling or the moon waxing over Neptune. Them that gots, gets. Them two got.

I think DePaul has a pretty good squad as well this season. They've got to be relieved they don't have to play Connecticut and Louisville this year. Even Syracuse is gone. They did face Notre Dame and UK in the non-conference slate. Two of their four defeats and understandably so. Doug Bruno's grin has probably never been wider. Bruno has been at DePaul since the disco era. He's dancing this year.

And, what is going on with UK WBB these days? It might be time to send Dr. Phil (or Dr. Seuss or Dr. Spock) to Lessington for some counselling and group hug therapy.

Louisville ranked #3? Yeah, sure. Why not?

They held their own against UConn. They haven't flubbed against an un-ranked like the Dookies or Stanford and Son have. Way too much is put into strength of schedule. Charlie Creme needs to add some sugar or set the mug down. This UofL team can flat out ball and with a sore-shin on Shoni (say that fast five times), Asia throwing up all day Saturday and Bria still probably riding a bike in Cardinal Arena (I've wondered about that -- if your knees hurt, what are you doing on a stationary bike pedalling?) the Cards didn't do bad in Storrs. Mind you, I'm no physical therapist. And I'll spend 5-6 hours walking on grass trying to find a little white ball, just to whack it again and try to re-find it with tendinitis issues. The world isn't fair. 

The Cards weren't great either in Storrs. The mad scientist is working on it. Whoever can figure out how to get Shoni in double-figures against anything wearing a Connecticut shirt please call Louisville Women's Basketball immediately.

The key here, as many have mentioned, is not tripping up in the five games before facing Gennecticut again. Temple will be looking for revenge for beating them in from of Bill Cosby (OK, I doubt he was there, but it sounds good). Playing Memphis in Memphis is always dangerous, no matter what the sport. Those folks have a definite hatred for anything in red or with birds on it.

Those Rutgals are the one that worry me the most. They definitely want to avoid being the #4 seed in the Geno Classic (oops, AAC Tournament) and wins can prevent that. They'll come into the YUM! for the last time in the foreseeable future ready to put a third loss on the Cardinals schedule.

Louisville says goodbye to Cincy after that and that one can't be overlooked either. Jamelle Elliott is a Geno disciple and and I wouldn't put it past him to sneak a few of his All-Americans down there and disguise them in blonde wigs and ponytails to spice things up.

Whaddya mean you let UofL in the ACC?

So the plan is nicely laid out. A lot can happen, of course, in the 20 days before Geno lets the dogs out in the fried chicken arena.

Maybe someone, dare I say it -- knocks off UConn before the Cards get a second shot at it?

Where's Doug Bruno, Quentin Hillsman and Muffet McGraw when you need them?

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Finally -- would someone PLEASE draw up a set of six or seven rules of universal officiating, distribute them to all women's college officials and make them memorize them and repeat them before they get paid to call a game? The last time I was this confused about procedure was when I little boy and the doctor told me to take the pill he showed me three times a day. No matter how hard I tried, once I took the pill the first time, it was gone and I couldn't take it again.

The NCAA tries experimental rules enforcement tactics

Make them get tattoos on their arms with the rules. Flash them on the jumbotron in the arenas ( OK, that won't work in most arenas) or have an annoying little man running around on the court spouting them out continuously. Woody Allen is available.

Just be consistent. If something is a foul in the first half, or on Tuesday night -- make it a foul in the second half or on Sunday afternoon. This isn't the pizza buffet.

Dear college womens' basketball referees: You're giving a lot of coaches ulcers. We assume you don't drive on both sides of the street or brush your teeth with both ends of your toothbrush. Could a confused fan get a little congruence here?

Have a great Wednesday CARDINAL COUPLE readers. Go watch your excellent WBB squad in a bird battle tonight in downtown Louisville. Enjoy $2 beers, get out of the cold for a few hours and make some noise.

These days are fleeting and before you know it you'll be filling out NCAA brackets and arguing about seeding, locations and game times. Less than three weeks until the madness of March arrives. I may just have to leave the balmy warmth of southwest Florida and purchase a ticket for 3/3/14.

Jose points out to Geno where I normally sit
for USF games. Geno checks Jose for weapons..

Nah.

I've got Jose and the Bulls in case my withdrawl from live WBB gets too overpowering. It may be methadone for my heroin-type addiction for live college basketball, but the fairways in Muncie and Louisville probably don't have much roll currently.

GO CARDS!

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-DAVID WATSON-

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Thursday Cardinal Couple -- Cards will take the fifth

THURSDAY CARDINAL COUPLE

- LOUISVILLE gets #5 WBB national ranking

The Louisville women's basketball team earned its highest preseason ranking yesterday when the USA Today/ESPN Coaches Poll came out.  The Cardinals are ranked fifth in the poll.  The Cardinals were ranked No. 8 in last season's preseason poll, which was the previous high.

The Cardinals tip off the season in the preseason WNIT on Nov. 9.  Four of the Cards' possible opponents are ranked or receiving votes in the poll.  Oklahoma is ranked #14, LSU is ranked #17 while Gonzaga and Quinnipiac are both receiving votes.

#1? Why those dogs in Storrs....Geno's Huskies. That should surprise no one. Even aliens visiting earth with no concept of basketball have UConn #1 in their extraterrestrial polls. And, it's well deserved. Stanford, Duke and Tennessee are above the Cards. Forget that we beat Tennessee in the NCAA and lose only Mo, Shelby, and Sherrone from that team.

Poll voters can be such imbeciles at times...

Tennessee needs to show they can succeed with quality players. Mercedes Russell chose UT over
Louisville in a highly competitve recruiting war. She and the 2013 recruits join a team that...on paper, at least...look pretty awesome. Last I checked, they don't play games on paper. And #8 UK isn't going to throw up their hands and say:

"Yes...you're Tennessee. You're obviously better than us..so we'll just let you win and settle for second place in the SEC."

Dance, Mattie...dance. I think I'm going to enjoy watching this UK team this year. Not saying that I'll cheer for them...but they have a lot of talent and are very, very quick.

Many are saying Stanford may not be the best team in the PAC-Howevermany this year. My buddy "no-call" Lindsey Gottlieb out there could take that conference. I don't think either Cal or Stanford could beat the Cards. Ain't skeered of no Bears or Cardinal. (Remember, hold the "S". They're an academic school...)



"I'm 99% sure the court is THAT way!!!"

That leaves the Dukies and Coach Joanie P. A train wreck waiting to happen. Other teams in the ACC scare me more. Sure they got Elizabeth Williams...who is a powerhouse...and depth. Chelsea Gray and Haley Peters return also. They also have to battle with UNC, Miami, Florida State, Maryland....yeah, yeah... the beat goes on. If they end the season in the top five...I'll drive to Duke and kiss the Cameron court. Wearing a Duke jersey. They scored 122 points against Glenville State last night in an exhibition game. They also gave up 77. Did either team bother to play defense? And who is Glenville State?

A school started by the guy on The Walking Dead???

Jeff Walz will tell you he doesn't care about preseason rankings...it's where the team finishes. He's a man wise beyond his years and that proved to be prophetic last season.

This Louisville team will return to the Final Four. They may go in as a #3 or #4 seed from their region...but they'll get there. Unless Shoni runs off and joins the circus, Nita moves into a monastery, Bria hops on a space shuttle and the entire front line switches to lacrosse.

Not that Kellie Young would mind. Imagine Sara Hammond in the crease charging a petrified goalie.

Rank Louisville #33. It doesn't matter. Rank UK, KU, UT and TTU ahead of them. Makes no nevermind. It's the end result that matters. As Jenny mentioned yesterday...Baylor was last year's #1. The major difference this year is that UConn has a coach that is fairly certain of what he's doing most of the time and isn't prone to wardrobe malfunctions. If Louisville triple-teams a UConn player...I'm fairly certain Geno will show his kids how to find the open player. And, Chris Dailey is there to counsel and attend to the coat-tails.

It should be a very interesting season. Could there be a re-match of last year's championship game in Nashville this year? Notice I didn't say repeat. I definitely wouldn't want to sit through a replay of last year's championship game. To this day, I haven't even watched a replay or highlight reel of it.

Don't bet against "the Mad Scientist". I'll give you 13 reasons why. Look at the UofL roster.

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For those interested...and in honor of Halloween...I've put some Breeders Cup picks for Friday's racing over at my largely neglected and seldom used personal website. They ought to put a real scare into you...(insert chilling, single note piano music from Michael Myers' movie.)

Hold your breath and enter. LINK below.

PAULIE PICKS


-paulie

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Louisville Women's Basketball heads West

WEDNESDAY CARDINAL COUPLE

( Three categories in tonight's ESPY Awards at 9 p.m. on ESPN have current and former UofL hoopsters involved. Jenny O'Bryan catches us up on the BIGGEST UPSET OF THE YEAR category and the LADY CARDS nomination for their win over Baylor in the NCAA regionals. You can also vote for Pitino as Coach of the Year and Angel as best WNBA player. All three are deserving. Go vote! )  

IT is the eve of the ESPYs  (as I write this) and a contingent from Louisville Women’s Basketball has headed West.  If you are on twitter and follow the team basketball account, or any of the player’s accounts, you are seeing a photo montage of the trek. 

Bria Smith shared a Vine (for those of you not in the social media know, this is a 7 second video clip) in the wee hours of Tuesday morning announcing the departure.  Pictures and regular updates ensued from the coaching staff, each of the players heading out, as well as the basketball account. 

Coach Walz posted a picture of his new baby girl Lola, as they touched down in LA.  Sara Hammond posted a picture of an attendant waiting outside the gate with a placard with her name on it.  Pictures of lunch at Johnny Rockets, lunch on the beach, star sightings, and a pool party with all the celebrities have been captured all day long by Bria Smith, Antonita Slaughter and Sara Hammond.  Shoni Schimmel will also be arriving in LA, though she seems to have missed all the early arrival fun going on.  I have also read Jude Schimmel will also be in attendance. 

What an incredible time for these young women, and this program.  Well deserved, no doubt.  The Year of the Cardinal keeps on keeping on and I hope these young women are savoring every minute of it.  What an incredible opportunity for them, and what incredible exposure for this program! 

As much as I want and believe the win against Baylor is deserving of the biggest upset award, I am wary because it is a women’s game going up against 3 male sporting events, one of which was a football game.  Let’s keep that Ugly Duckling, Party Crasher mentality alive for one more event.   

Regardless of what happens tomorrow at the awards, Louisville takes the big stage with 3 nominations in total, the women’s team, Coach Pitino for Best Coach and Angel McCoughtry for Best WNBA player.   That is an enormous amount of exposure for one program, exposure that money can’t buy.  It is the reward of success!

Today marks the last day you can vote for our Louisville connections.   If you have not done so yet (why the heck haven’t you?),  here is the link:
 

http://espn.go.com/espys/2013/

Voting remains open until 9:00 p.m. today.  You can watch the awards this evening starting at 9:00 p.m on ESPN.    Go Cards!


-JENNY O'BRYAN

( EDITOR NOTE: We have an interview with Jeff Walz that reveals his feelings toward the nomination and other aspects of the importance of the award that will play on our Saturday Radio Show on Crescent Hill Radio. WE hope you'll tune in to catch it Saturday @ 11 a.m. or you can catch it on the Sound Cloud archived broadcast area on the home page. Link is www.crescenthillradio.com and you'll find three months of our archived broadcasts there. We wish all the Louisville entries the best of luck and success tonight in the ESPY's!)

-Paulie








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